


Forsaken

by HitsugiNerd



Category: Original Work
Genre: F/M, Post-Apocalypse, Sci-Fi, Viral Apocalypse
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-06-25
Updated: 2015-06-25
Packaged: 2018-04-06 02:05:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,994
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/4203843
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/HitsugiNerd/pseuds/HitsugiNerd
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Caitie Bard was just a college student. Her school was all that mattered to her, and she was fine with that. Being far away from her family wasn't a big deal... at least not until today. She wakes up to a strange circumstance, and is the only one left alive. That is until she encounters Max... a thug whose life is shrouded in mystery.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Forsaken

Forsaken  
Chapter 1: The Man  
Up until her mid twenties, Caitie Bard never really fit in anywhere. She was the only child to a doctor and a lawyer, who never had any time for her growing up. She was smart, or at least that’s what everyone thought because she liked to read. Her favorite subject in school was History and Science, but she liked to dabble a bit in the literature department. Her life was bland, average and her parents were… not very lovely people to be around. Her parents saw nothing but the negative side in life. Yet… Caitie saw the good in everything around her. For the life of her aunts and uncles, they could never understand how she could just smile at the most random stranger, and not fear getting mugged. Something about Caitie made every person in her family scratch their heads in disbelief. Truthfully, Caitie was bizarre, but she was also loved, by every stranger that she ever said hi to. Something about her sweet smile would brighten up their day.  
But that day, the day that everyone around her was no longer alive, was the day she stopped smiling. It was a Tuesday morning; she had just gotten out of her first class. The Nebraska sky greeted her and the world seemed so happy and bright. There had been news on the radios and television of a viral outbreak for the past two weeks, but no one really heeded the warning… rather, they went on their daily lives as if nothing was wrong. Yet every time someone on the radio spoke about the virus, Caitie would immediately listen. She had learned from her years of studying journalism, that you should always at least take note of what the news says. Even if some of the reported news was corrupt. As she walked towards the nearest convenience store she listened to her portable radio, she never listened to anything else… except maybe classical music. Again, an announcer came on the microphone, this time his voice sounded desperate, scared even.   
“Ladies and gentlemen… we… we don’t have much time I’m afraid… news… ca-… tha-… w…” Caitie smacked her radio annoyed, it was on the fritz again.  
“Piece of junk.” She pouted. She sighed and put it away in her backpack, still walking towards her destination. Despite the annoyance with her radio, she kept her head high in the air, and moved on. By the time she reached the convenience store, people started to act bizarre around her. So many people were on their phones… and some even looked sickishly pale. In fact… now that she thought about it, half of her class was gone, and hadn’t been in class since last Thursday. Maybe people really were getting sick… she shook her head and pushed out that thought in her head. No… it’s probably like the bird flu that happened years ago. No one really got THAT sick from the bird flu. Sure, there were casulities… but it was practically a blip on the radar. Perhaps it was the same ordeal here.  
She grabbed a sweet bun from one of the shelves, and went to the counter to pay. There was a line of course, why wouldn’t there be a line? She sighed and checked her watch, she had thirty minutes till class. It was plenty of time to snack, but not really enough time to finish that one book she had been reading. She was only on the last chapter, but something had always interrupted her. It was then that she realized something was horribly wrong. Suddenly, mass hysteria broke out on the streets. She stared out the big glass window in the convenience store, what she saw… she will never forget. Within minutes of her being in the store, fire had spread all along the street. People ran away, some stayed and attempted to break into cars. The other patrons watched in horror alongside her.   
“What’s going on?!” the middle aged man in front of her asked.  
“Looks like a riot!” the cashier said.  
“Riot? Over what?” Caitie found herself asking.  
As she asked, a large man picked up one of the news paper vending machines and smashed it through the window. Within seconds all of the patrons scattered, screaming echoed in her ears as everyone all shoved past Caitlin. Before she knew it she was pushed so hard that her head slammed against one of the hard metal shelves. As her body limply fell to the floor, her head greeted the ground, and her eyes closed… taking in the darkness.   
Screams, car alarms and utter panic rang out in her ears as she laid there. The world around her moved and morphed into a disturbing mess, she couldn’t even feel the extent of how bad things had gotten.  
By the time she opened her eyes, the world around her was engulfed in an orange glow. She felt herself jump up as she realized how late it was now. “Is it already sundown?” she asked herself as she sat up. But that worrying thought left her mind as she stared down at the floor, right next to her, was another person. She gasped and touched the person lightly, “E-excuse me…? Are you… okay?” she asked curiously poking the body again. It looked to be lifeless, not showing signs of moving anytime soon. It was facedown so she couldn’t even see the person’s face. She then pushed the person over, but the minute she did so, she immediately regretted it.   
“Oh my god!” she covered her mouth in disgust, for the person that lied at her feet was absolutely pale and covered in what looked like scratch marks. The person was hard to distinguish their gender because they were so swollen. She attempted to shake the person again, this time their eyes opened as she did so. She jumped back, but attempted to see to it that they were okay, “Are you okay?” she asked again. This time, the person grabbed her arm and attempted to speak.  
“What do you need? Do you need an ambulance?” she asked again.  
The person then pulled the confused girl close to them, it was obvious they were on their last leg, the person with all of their might, tried to say their final words. The only thing that came out of their mouth was, “…virus.” With their last breath, the person finally let go, their body limply succumbing to whatever was ailing them.   
“Virus…? The one on the news?” she asked herself curiously. “No way…” she stood up amidst the thrown bags of food and groceries. The moment she laid eyes on the outside world, was the moment she realized that she was alone. For miles all she could see was death, bodies, and destruction. The setting sun bathed the corpses on the ground in a melancholy send off. It was almost as if the world itself was going to sleep, and saying good night to all of the people on Earth. Caitie fell to the ground, she could feel her breath getting heavier and erratic. “Oh my God. Oh God! No… no I can’t… I can’t end up like that!” she fumbled in her pockets and reached for her phone. She, in a panic first dialed her parents, praying that one of them was alive.   
She sat on the floor and waited for someone to pick up, but to no avail. It went to voice mail almost immediately, she struggled to keep herself composed as she left a message, “Mom… dad… anyone… please… just pick up. I… I can’t be alone! Please don’t let me be alone! I don’t want to die! I don’t want to be without someone! Please just pick up!” she could feel herself crying profusely, her words probably sounded jumbled, but she didn’t care, she just praid for someone to pick up. But after a few seconds of silence, the voicemail beeped, taunting her with the loneliness she knew was inevitable. She knew that her loving parents all the way in New York were probably out of the house, or… worse.   
Her eyes strained to stay open, her head fell to her knees, and she began to sob. She was alone… she was all alone and no one could comfort her. After a few seconds of reflection, it became obvious to her what she needed to do. “I can’t stay here…” she mumbled to herself. “I can’t just sit with the dead… I have to find somewhere to go. Maybe… find someone else.” She smiled to herself at the thought, “If I can face this with someone else… maybe we can come up with a plan.” She now stood up and walked over to the counter. “It’s almost night… I need a flashlight.” She shuffled through the drawers behind the cash register, with what little light she had left, she managed to pull out a flashlight. She smiled to herself as she held it in hand, and turned it on. “Good…” she sighed and looked at the empty convenience store in front of her. “Maybe… maybe I should take some of this food. I don’t think anyone will mind anymore.” She emptied her backpack on the spot, only taking her radio and notepad with her pen. She then went down the aisle of the store and took any canned food, any beef jerky, water and other supplies she could find. By the time she was done, her backpack was heavy, but it was worth it she figured, to get herself ready for the inevitable. “Now… I have to find someone. Anyone…” she muttered to herself. The first place she thought to look was the bar. If anyone would be alive, it would be the bar. First she stopped by her dorm room, since it was across the way from the convenience store. As she knew it, the halls were filled with dead students, some looked like they dropped on the spot. She let go of her unease and ran to the dorm room. She found her a change of clothes, her phone charger and more pens for her notepad. She sighed to herself as she stared one last time at her dorm. “This is the end… and looks like I’m all that’s left for miles.” She sighed again and attempted to force out a smile, “Positive… think positive.” She then ran out of her building, the minute she stepped outside, she made her way to the bar on the other end of town. She tried her best to ignore the bodies that laid everywhere, but it was hard to keep her eyes focused on the road at all times. By the time she reached the bar, it was sun down, and her flashlight became handy. She was also grateful to herself that she brought spare batteries.   
“I’ve never stolen in my life… yet the end of the world has given me new opportunities to do so.” She slightly smiled to herself. “Lord with thoughts like these… I almost don’t want to wonder what I’m going to think of next.” She muttered to herself. After ten minutes she reached the bar. As she stepped inside, she noticed that one of the TVs remained on. Except, instead of dead air, it was on the news. The cameras were still rolling… but no one was even on there. Behind the news reporter’s desk was a big flashing sign that said, “Virus: Outbreak to kill billions, 90% expected not to survive within 24 hours.”   
“Virus…? So… it did kill all these people… Dear god.” She muttered to herself. “Am I… the only one left?” that thought alone left her feeling empty. She didn’t want to be alone. She didn’t want that empty feeling. As she looked through the bar empty of life… she heard something rattle. Her heart thumped against her throat, her eyes shot wide open, and her body felt like a million bugs were tickling her. She stood still, and waited for something to sound again, this time the rattling happened again. She jumped, and followed the sound to what looked like a closet. There was a jukebox standing in front of it. Her curiosity was peaked, and she knew she had to find out what it was. But before she attempted to open the closet door, she knew she had to get something to defend herself… just in case. She grabbed an empty beer bottle and then proceeded to move aside the jukebox. It was heavy at first but she managed to push it aside just fine. As soon as it was out of the way, something came bursting out of the door. There... looming over Caitie, was a man. Another human being. His icy green eyes stared down at her aggressively, his skin was pale but not sickly, and his hair was platinum blonde. She felt her heart sink as he glared at her, he looked to be in his 30s. He wore a leather vest and a white shirt, his body was covered in tattoos instead of pus covered boils that were on the dead bodies around them. He was very much alive… he was alive and well.   
“Who the f-“ the man tried to get out but Caitie suddenly lunged at him and hugged him tight against her. He stumbled back a bit and awkwardly attempted to hug her back. His confused expression was obvious especially in his tone of voice, “H-hey… what do you think you’re doing?” he asked in a semi-threatening tone, but also a curious one.  
“I’m so glad to see another human being alive! Oh God, thank goodness!” Caitie started crying now, her eyes strained to stay open.   
“H-hey! Stop that now! You stop that!” the man said annoyed.  
“No! Please… I need this… just a second longer.” Caitie pleaded.  
“Jeez…” the man groaned and patted her back in defeat.  
When she released him the man sighed and folded his arms, “Well why did you go doing that?” he asked her.  
“I’m sorry… it’s just…” she wiped away her tears, “I don’t know how to act around people. I was just so overwhelmed with joy that I wanted to hug you.”   
The man groaned and flicked her forehead to which Caitie glared at him annoyed and rubbed her head, “That was dangerous. You’re lucky I’m not armed.” He sighed again and rubbed the back of his neck. “An introduction would have been nice.”   
“Oh… you’re right. I’m… I’m Caitie.” She took out her hand and offered it to the man.   
The man stared at her hand and scoffed, “I’m Max.” he refused to take her hand and simply walked past her.   
“Why were you in that closet?” she asked him pretending that what he did wasn’t in fact rude.  
“I got into a bar fight, the owner didn’t bother to kick me out, instead he let the fools I got into a fight with push me in and lock me in there. Lucky for me it was a supply closet.” Max smirked.  
“That’s horrible! Why did he do that to you?” she asked.  
“Like I said, I was in a bar fight, and that was that. Though I will say he kept me in there longer than I expected. Where did he go anyway? It must be getting close to the regular bar hours by now.” Max said nonchalantly.   
“About that…” Caitie stood in front of him before he had a chance to step out into the bar itself. “You might… not want to see what happened.” She looked down at her feet.  
Max for once in his life, felt a crippling fear reach his spine as he stared at the young woman shift uncomfortably.   
“What happened…?” he lowly asked, his tone cautious but demanding. But Caitie didn’t answer and just shook her head, “Please don’t go out there.” She whispered softly.  
Max’s eyes widened and his expression showed concern, he pushed past Caitie easily which wasn’t much of a feat considering how tiny she was in comparison to him. He marched into the bar area and froze on spot, his mouth hanging open. All of the patrons, the waiters, the bartender and the owner all laid there dead, pus ridden and swollen. “Jesus H. Christ… What happened here?!” he snapped his neck back at Caitie who meekly lowered her head, “It was… a virus…” she shyly whispered.  
“A… virus? You mind repeating that?” Max grabbed her collar and brought her face close to his, making her gray eyes focus on his icy green eyes. “What happened?!”   
“There was a virus! A deadly virus that swept through. I don’t know how fast it happened but everyone just dropped! I was knocked out when it happened so I can’t give you all the details, but everyone is dead! I haven’t seen anyone alive since I saw you! The whole town is probably gone!” Caitie uncomfortably said.  
“What…? Everyone is…” Max let her go and placed a hand on his head, “Oh my God…” he backed into a nearby bar stool and looked at her again. “Are you sure about that?” he asked her again.  
“Yes…” she softly answered.   
“Oh God…” he repeated. “So my…” his eyes watered over, and his hand covered his eyes, he desperately tried to hide his overbearing pain that came crashing down on him. “Are you sure you saw no one else. Not even a little girl maybe?” he asked.  
“A little girl…?” Caitie thought it odd that he asked specifically for a little girl. “No… I didn’t see anyone.” She honestly answered.   
Now Max seemed even more upset. “Nadia…” he whispered out a whimper. “Oh Jesus no.” he began sobbing. Caitie felt so uncomfortable that she just wanted to hide, she wasn’t sure how to respond to crying. Really she had no idea how to respond to anyone who cried really. She felt generally uncomfortable by negative emotions, and rarely knew what to do. But then she thought of something that she knew might get him on his feet.  
“T-then again… I wasn’t paying much attention, and I’ve only been awake for maybe an hour. So… m-maybe they just moved on to a new town?” she smiled at him. Max’s eyes shot up and greeted hers, “What…? Are you sure?”   
“W-well no. I just mean that we can’t give up. Maybe people decided to move on and find other people. I mean we can’t be the only people alive anymore right?” she asked shrugging.   
Max stood up and placed his hands on her shoulders, “So you think… they might be in a different town?”   
“Maybe.” Caitie said bluntly, “But I can’t guarantee it.”   
Max scratched his stubble and paced around the floor, “Hm…” he then looked at Caitie again and chuckled, “Have you seen yourself?” he asked suddenly.  
“What…?” Caitie asked.  
“You’re a mess. You should wash up, you got gunk all over your face.” He shook his head, “Listen, I need time to think. You go wash up. We’ll talk when you’re done.”   
“What? But we can talk now. I really don’t care how I look.” Caitie laughed.  
“You will once you see yourself. Look, we need to plan out what we’re going to do right?” Max asked.  
“O-Oh yes! S-so that means you want to travel together?” Caitie’s eyes lit up.  
“Wash.” Max pointed towards the bathroom. “Then Talk.”   
Caitie sighed and made her way to the bathroom. As soon as she turned on the light and looked in the mirror, she was taken aback. Max was right, she was a mess. She was covered in blood and gunk, and was anything but favorable to the eye. She supposed all that happened in the convenience store had her get messy. She took a paper towel and wiped off her face, cleaned her glasses and used the remaining water to sleak back her long blonde hair as she put it in a ponytail. She sighed at her image in the mirror. She was never comfortable in her own skin. She had acne scars, a strange button nose that looked off with the rest of her face. Her big eyes made the rest of her face make her look like rabbit… which wasn’t a compliment for her. If anything, the positive side to the apocalypse was that she didn’t really have to care much about her looks anymore. Who would look at her? Max? No way. She giggled at the idea. She felt safer already knowing he was with her now. Things weren’t as lonely as she thought.   
She stepped out of the bathroom and greeted Max who offered her a small smirk. “Well, you’re definitely less dirty.” He sighed and folded his arms, “I suppose we should head down the road.”   
“S-so you want to travel together?” Caitie asked somewhat happily, considering how much she really wanted someone there.  
“Yeah, fine.” Max made a waving hand gesture, as if he wanted her to drop the subject, “Just calm down girl, I’m not taking you to the prom for the love of God.” he grumbled.   
“I suppose not… I suppose I get scared at the idea of being alone is all… after all, we’re the only ones left for miles I’d gather.” she shrugged shyly.  
“Yeah… maybe you’re right. Maybe we’re better off working together. Just pull your own weight and we’ll be fine.” He stood up from the bar stool and walked towards the front door, “So, where should we go first?” he asked turning towards her.  
“Y-you’re asking me?” Caitie asked.  
“Yeah. Well you look like you’re going on a camping trip. Might as well look the part.” He smirked again.  
“Great! Let’s go then!” she cried excitedly.  
Max only smiled and followed the enthusiastic girl out the door. As soon as they were outside, Caitie was quick to start down the road towards their next destination. But Max was the first to drag her back, “Do you mind if we make a quick pit stop first? I need to grab some things myself missy.”   
“O-oh! I suppose you do!” Caitie giggled slightly.   
“You’re treating this like a picnic. Jesus.” Max grumbled as he started to walk the opposite direction of where Caitie was so hungry to head towards. “Where were you even going anyway? “he asked.  
“Oh… um… I figured we’d try the west coast. After all, more people are bound to be there right?” she asked.  
“Oh yeah? And what do you expect to find?” he turned towards her as he kept walking.  
“M-maybe other people! I don’t know!” she threw her hands up exaggeratedly.  
“Calm down, I just think we need a plan. We can’t just wander around aimlessly. Especially since we’re going to most likely be trekking on foot.” He said slowly.  
“Why only on foot? Wouldn’t be quicker to go by car?” she asked.  
“Eventually this electricity is going to run out girly, and we’re not going to be able to access much gas once we’re on the road. So you better believe that we’ll be walking some of the way. Besides… have you noticed the crashed vehicles around here?” he nodded towards the vehicles that were indeed crashed into other cars, trees, lamp posts and buildings. Her face twisted slightly at the sight of so much carnage.   
“I suppose you’re right…” she admitted in defeat.  
“So if there are cars in the way, most likely that means there are highways that are blocked too. The upside is, we can walk on the highways if we need to. So no need to worry about getting run over.” He smirked slightly. That seemed to be his signature smile. Caitie admitted to herself that Max wasn’t too terrible to look at. He had nice facial features, but it was his intimidating look that made it hard for her to even consider him seriously. He wasn’t someone she would even really consider taking home to mom and dad. He had a skull earring in his ear, tattoos of god knows what and spiked bracelets all over his wrists. His leather vest sported some sort of panther, with something in Latin over the fierce cat. She strained to read his vest, squinting to read it better, despite wearing glasses it was still hard to read.   
“Panthera Rex?” she read aloud.  
“Don’t read my back.” He grunted annoyed.  
“Sorry… I was just curious. Isn’t that a biker gang?”   
“Perceptive huh?” he turned around and stopped for a brief second. “Look kid… the less you know about me, the better. I’m not a nice guy, okay? We’re only travelling together because I need some company, comprende?”   
“If you weren’t a nice guy you would have killed me right back at the bar.” She stated simply.  
Max stared at her for a long time, his face becoming more and more distorted from the thoughts that were buzzing in his head. He attempted to counter her argument with something that made him sound much more intimidating, but it came to a shocking halt. “Okay, fine. Fair enough, I’m nice enough not to pull a knife on you and attempt to kill you. But don’t get friendly with me.” Max kept walking and marched ahead.  
“What’s the point in travelling with me anyway? Seems counterproductive.”  
Max turned around again, caught in his lies. He felt foolish knowing that she was outsmarting his every attempt at being a rebel. He sighed and scratched the back of his head aggressively, “Ah! Just shut up until we get there!” he marched forward, and to his surprise, Caitie stopped talking until they arrived at his home.   
Caitie took careful notice of his home, he was on a semi decent side of town, as in he wasn’t too close to danger. It was a secure enough place, but really he didn’t need the protection. He as intimidating enough as it was, so truthfully it felt out of place that he was somewhere out here.   
“You seem to have a nice home Max.” Caitlin commented.  
“Huh?” Max turned to her as he opened up the door, “Of course I have a nice home. I don’t work for pennies you know. Jesus, where did you think I lived, the gutter?”   
Caitlin blushed slightly and shrugged, “I don’t know… I really wasn’t sure what to expect.” She looked down at her feet nervously.   
“Whatever. I work as a janitor part time. I gotta keep two bellies full after all.” Max scratched the back of his head, an odd habit he seemed to have when he felt shy about something.  
“Two bellies?” she stared at him perplexed.  
“Forget what I said.” He grumpily turned back and opened up the door to his house. “Come in if you want.” He said.  
Caitlin stepped in and found that his house was surprisingly clean, it was small on the inside, but it wasn’t cramped. It was a nice little cozy home for a bachelor. Or at least she figured he was a bachelor. Truth be told she still wondered who on Earth was Nadia.  
“Nadia?” Max suddenly called out. “Sweetie, I’m home!”   
“Are you married?” Caitlin asked.  
“What?” Max turned around at her confused. She figured that he didn’t hear her.  
“Are you married?” she asked again.  
“No. Never have been.” He answered bluntly, and then went back into what he was doing. She watched from the side as he became panicked in his movement. He started to practically tear the furniture apart as he called out Nadia’s name over and over again. He ran into all of the rooms and seemed to tear apart the furniture. By the time he turned back to Caitie he was sweating bullets. “I can’t find her!” Max called out.   
“What? Who?” Caitie asked.  
“My daughter, Nadia! She’s only seven! What if something happened to her!” he cried out.   
“Woah! Woah, calm down! When did you last see her?” she asked him placing her hands on his broad chest, in hopes of possibly calming him down.  
“I left her here with a babysitter!” he cried running his hands through his hair, scratching his head back and forth.   
She held her hands up and placed her hands on his cheeks, trying to pacify his tantrum.“Woah! Are there any bodies around?”  
He stood still staring into her eyes briefly, his face gave away his thought process, he was thinking really hard about it. Despite his frantic behavior earlier he shook his head confirming that no one was in the house. “She’s not here…” Max smiled now, grabbing Caitie on the shoulder, “That means that they left town! They had to have!”   
“Are you sure?” Caitie asked.  
“It’s worth a shot!” Max ran out of the living room and into his bedroom, after a few minutes he returned with a backpack, he was practically dancing. He now ran to the kitchen and stuffed whatever can he could, a can opener, a few spoons, and bottled water. “We have a shot! We have a chance to find her!” Max cried.  
“Grab a flashlight while you are in there!” she called back to him in the kitchen, as she stood awkwardly waiting on him. “And some flashlights!” she remembered that flashlights mattered more than ever.   
“Okay!” he called back. After a while he came back out and had a cheerful gleam in his eyes. “Are you ready kid?” he asked.  
“I’m not a kid.” She corrected him.  
“Okay well how old are you?” he asked somewhat annoyed.  
“26.” She answered.  
“I’m 32, so by seniority I can call you kid.” He ruffled her hair and ran out of the house. “C’mon kid! We’re wasting daylight!”   
“It’s night time!” Caitie responded running after him.   
Off went the pair, Max’s usual grumpy attitude was now masked by a hopeful glimmer in his eyes and a spring in his step. Caitie followed after and struggled to keep up due to her small stature.

**Author's Note:**

> This story might take a bit to complete since I am still in the process of working out Maledictus. But this is in fact my original work. Let me know what you guys think.


End file.
